Recent concerns over the environmental fate of fluorosurfactants and the cost of fluorosurfactants are fueling efforts to develop new surfactant systems that contain less fluorine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,804 discloses a method of improving fluorinated surfactants by employing a fluorinated synergist, (Rf)nTmZ, wherein Rf is a perfluorinated aliphatic group, T is alkylene, arylene, alkylenethio alkylene, alkyleneoxyalkylene or alkyleneiminoalkylene, Z is a neutral or a polar group, n is 1 or 2, and m is 0 to 2.
There remains a need for developing other surfactant systems having reduced fluorine content with a low environmental footprint and/or improved performance.